Research Report Details How Customers are Using iPad

By John Martellaro

Jul 12th, 2010 3:50 PM EDT

Resolve Market Research has published a comprehensive study that examines how Apple customers are using their iPad. Amongst the results: customers don’t buy the iPad for games, but that changes later. Also, they are far less likely to buy a dedicated E-reader after purchasing an iPad.

The research, released through mashable.com asked customers which of the following devices they would not buy after owning an iPad. The top two items are an E-reader and a portable gaming device.

E-reader - 49%

Portable Gaming Device - 38%

Netbook/Laptop - 32%

MP3 Player - 29%

Gaming Console - 27%

MID - 24 %

Smartphone - 22%

Makers of E-reader should be worried, the report says, and points out the recent price slashing by Amazon (Kindle) and Barnes & Noble (Nook). “Even at $200, the value proposition for an e-reader versus an iPad is tough to overcome.”

Perhaps the most surprising result was that 37 percent of customers planning to buy an iPad said it will be their first Apple product.

Finally, the iPad is viewed, for now, as an expensive toy.

“According to Resolve, 55% of iPad owners or would-be owners see the device as a very expensive toy, or luxury item. It’s not a necessary device to have in your daily life, although it can replace a number of other gadgets or products. Still, that functionality can largely be reproduced (albeit with a less experience, in many cases) by things that many users already own.”

These results suggest that the initial euphoria over the iPad results, later, in more practical considerations as customers realize what they can really do with the device. In time, even more imaginative uses will likely come to light.